Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Scott Reeves - Portraits and Places
by Chris Spector, Midwest Review
A flugelhorn player that has earned his spurs as an arranger and conductor while laboring in the vineyards for a long time for cats as disparate as Dave Liebman and Bob Brookmeyer, he knows his jazz and thanks those long gone for the music that inspired him as well as those still around that taught him. Not nearly a kid and playing like an adult, this is sitting down big band listening music that'll have you bobbing your head and tapping your... read more
Kevin Deitz - Skylines
by George Fendel, Oregon Jazz Society
If you're seeking proof that Portland's resident jazz musicians more than hold their own with anyone, anywhere, check out Kevin Deitz's array of original compositions featuring a plethora of Portlanders. Deitz writes melody lines that are contagiously swinging or elegantly flowing. And some marvelous Portland-based players are given generous opportunities to strut their stuff. A few examples: Paul Mazzio's exquisite flugelhorn solo on "New... read more
May Okita - Art of Life
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Recorded shortly before she left LA to return to Japan, what can you say about a jazz vocal trio where the other two cats are Josh Nelson and Larry Koonse and you were taught your moves by Tierney Sutton? The set card is mostly familiar tunes done up in a new way giving this a freshness that removes it as far as possible from the cocktail realm. It might be sitting down listening but it certainly gets your pulse racing---even in it's laid back... read more
Scott Reeves Jazz Orchestra - Without a Trace
by Delarue, New York Music Daily
The rain-slicked streetcorner tableau on the album cover of the Scott Reeves Jazz Orchestra's latest release Without a Trace - streaming at Bandcamp - Is truth in advertising. In recent years the group have taken a turn into moody, brassy latin-inspired sounds, something they excel at. They're at Dizzy's Club on Sept 3, with sets at 7:30 and 9:30. Cover is steep - $35 - but like most A-list large jazz ensembles not named the Maria... read more
Anthony Branker & Word Play - Dialogic
by John Barron, The Jazz Word
Composer and noted music educator Anthony Branker's third release for Origin Records , Dialogic, finds the Princeton Professor in good company. Under the ensemble name Word Play, Branker directs a stellar quartet through nine of his original pieces. An underlying soulful vibe permeates the music, ranging from straight-ahead, swinging jazz to not-so-easy-to-label urban-inspired textures.
Saxophonist Ralph Bowen and pianist Jim Ridl are... read more
Mark Taylor - Spectre
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
Fresh off a regional "best instrumentalist" award, sax virtuoso Mark Taylor returned to bandleader efforts with 2009's Spectre, a romp through a fair set of originals. Most compositions here come directly from Taylor's pen, but there are a few additional items -- two contributions from pianist Gary Fukushima and one from bassist Jeff Johnson, and one entry from Jim Knapp, a big-band leader with whom Taylor had been keeping busy over the course... read more
Bongwool Lee - My Singing Fingers
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
The music of pianist Bongwool Lee has a hopeful feeling. The Korean-born and now New York-based artist drew her first jazz inspiration - after classical studies in her homeland - from the work of Oscar Peterson, who sent much musical time walking on the sunny side of the street. But where Peterson rolled mostly in the jazz standards/Great American Songbook realm, Lee presents, on her debut recording, My Singing Fingers, a set of compelling... read more
Marcos Varela - San Ygnacio
by Raul da Gama, JazzdaGama
Marcos Varela is a name new to me, but a veritable household name among musical cognoscenti in New York and elsewhere in America. Moreover he is a bassist who emerges from the performance on San Ygnacio with great credit - imaginative, capricious, and lyrical, and with technique aplenty in reserve. At times on the disc he can be, let's say, literal at the ppp, but he is also someone who likes to exploit the full dynamic range of the double bass,... read more
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